[SOLVED] SSD Shopping Advice Wanted

[crizzah]

Hello,

I've finally decided to pull the trigger on a new gaming rig build to replace my +8 y.o. Frankenstein tower - and I'm trying to build it around a new RTX 3080 (...for when I can actually get my hands on one). I actually pulled the trigger on a few components that have come up on sale over the past week, most notably the CPU: an i9-10850K, which I plan to throw onto an ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-E mobo. This build will primarily be used for gaming & light remote business/personal work. Here is my current dilemma, and a few questions that I'm hoping you can help shed some light on:

Question #1: While shopping for a new 2TB NVMe SSD for this build, there appears to be a larger than normal (in my limited experience) price discrepancy between the low & mid-tier options currrently available. Here is a sample Newegg comparison of a few of the more recommended options I'm considering. I get that brand, quality components, & read/write speeds make a difference in the products' value, but a >$80 - +$200 difference for the same storage amount?! In the past, I would have simply selected the Adata or Intel sticks & happily skipped on down the road. However, now I'm paranoid that I might be missing out on something important (on a premium build) by trying to save a little cash. From other reviews, however, it seems the returns are substantially diminished,... i.e. the 1-2 second load-time rewards I might reap, IMHO are simply not worth justifying the est. $100 expense. I don't mind spending some extra $$ on this component, if it's justified - and I certainly don't want to hinder this otherwise awesome build b/c I poorly purchased an underwhelming SSD. Am I missing anything terribly important by going with the cheaper options here?

Question #2: On my old Frankentower, I had upgraded from HDD to SDD, then SSD to higher-capacity SSD, (currently 500GB Samsung EVO SATA), and I had to repurchase Windows somewhere in the hopskotch. I'm assuming I won't be able to transfer my old Win10 OS from that 500GB SATA SSD over to my new 2TB NVMe SSD? I also JUST purchased a fresh Windows 10 Pro license for my office desktop build last year - and I think I remember hearing something that you could use that license on 2 different machines - 1 for business, 1 for home? Any advice here would be much appreciated (especially if it saves me from chucking Microsoft another Benjamin).

Question #3: The new ASUS mobo has 2x M.2 slots. I don't currently have plans to utilize the 2nd slot for anything, other than potentially adding additional storage there in the future (especially if $/GB significantly drop down the road). Any recommendations for what I should consider using the 2nd M.2 slot for? Double-buying another SSD stick for RAID seems a little silly to me, but then again, what do I know? My understanding of the PCIe bus is not learned enough to completely comprehend what will happen to the M.2_1 bandwidth if I should add something into the M.2_2 slot. Just curious what you might do in this situation, if anything?

Thanks in advance!

 

[USAFRet]

1. 1 license, 1 PC. You can't use that same one on both the office system and your new system.
2. You CAN (probably) move a license between systems. See link below.
3. Installing/migrating on a NEW drive in the same system does not incur any OS licensing issues.
4. Second slot, no RAID
5. Which drive? As drives get "faster", we are well into diminishing returns. 50% faster than 2 minutes is 1 minute. Significant. 50% faster than 1 second is 0.5 sec. Not so significant.

Can't go much wrong with a Samsung.


For the OS activation, read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

 

[crizzah]

1. 1 license, 1 PC. You can't use that same one on both the office system and your new system.
2. You CAN (probably) move a license between systems. See link below.
3. Installing/migrating on a NEW drive in the same system does not incur any OS licensing issues.
4. Second slot, no RAID
5. Which drive? As drives get "faster", we are well into diminishing returns. 50% faster than 2 minutes is 1 minute. Significant. 50% faster than 1 second is 0.5 sec. Not so significant.

Can't go much wrong with a Samsung.


For the OS activation, read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

Thanks USAFRet - 07

1-3. Roger that. After thinking about it some more, transferring that license would brick my old PC, so I'll just throw another bill @ Microsoft, & simply keep the old SSD & OS w/ the Frankentower...then repurpose that somehow or gift it to my son.

4. Affirmative future storage. Negative RAID.

5. The Samsung is a good example of what I was more ambiguously asking above: for example on this comparison, is the Samsung 970 EVO really worth $100 more than the Adata Swordfish or $75 more than the Intel 660p? What am I really gaining other than that 0.5 second or some greater sense of Samsung reliability? I think Adata & Intel are maybe not as prestigious names as Samsung or Western Digital when it comes to SSD Storage, but they're not bad brand names either --- or am I oversimplifying w/ brand & not looking closely enough at the model specs? (..and I'm completely fine w/ Samsung btw - I lived outside Seoul for a year & love the brand - just trying to justify the $$).

-Crza

 

[USAFRet]

5 - The Samsung 970 benchmarks 2x that of the Intel (I have a 660p). The Intel is a good budget NVMe, but "slower" than the 970.
Now...will you actually notice that in real world use? Maybe, maybe not. 2 years from now, however...when you want to do something else with this system...that difference may become evident.

Personally, there are only a couple of brands I'd buy as the primary drive. ADATA is not one of them.
Samsung, Crucial, Intel.

 

[crizzah]

5 - The Samsung 970 benchmarks 2x that of the Intel (I have a 660p). The Intel is a good budget NVMe, but "slower" than the 970.
Now...will you actually notice that in real world use? Maybe, maybe not. 2 years from now, however...when you want to do something else with this system...that difference may become evident.

Personally, there are only a couple of brands I'd buy as the primary drive. ADATA is not one of them.
Samsung, Crucial, Intel.

Whew, I had a few days' worth of fires to put out, but I'm back on pc building track now...

...arrite, so I'm guessing it's more of a "Do as I say, not as I do" kinda advice - which I'm okay with. I went ahead & purchased the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB stick last night. Thank you very much for your help, and thank you for your service USAF. 07